


Here For You (Draco Malfoy"

by ravenclawgirl98



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-14
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:13:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 20,784
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28062225
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ravenclawgirl98/pseuds/ravenclawgirl98
Summary: Penny Montgomery has known Draco Malfoy ever since they were in diapers. Like him, she was a Pureblood, and was sorted into Slytherin. As the years go by, she begins to realize that she has fallen in love with him. But does Draco love her in return? Will he drop his walls and let her in? She wants to be there for him, but first, he has to open the door.This will be a series that goes through all seven years.
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 3
Collections: draco malfoy





	1. Chapter 1

September 1, 1991:

Penny Montgomery entered the King's Cross station with her parents. She would be entering her very first year at Hogwarts, and needless to say, she was really nervous. Her parents weren't really helping all that much either.

"Now dear, make sure that you behave yourself, we don't want to be getting any owls from the Headmaster because you've gotten yourself into trouble." Penny's mother, Deanna Montgomery reminded her for what felt like the hundredth time as she smoothed down her daughter's clothes, trying to make sure that there were no wrinkles, that Penny looked perfect. Deanna Montgomery was a short woman, with wavy brown hair that went down to her shoulders. She had a calm demeanor around her, and could make friends with anyone that she met.

Penny's father, Walter Montgomery, was the complete opposite. He was a man that would come off as cold and cross to people, but he loved his family dearly. Walter had jet black hair that was neatly cut, and he wore a business suit. "Now remember Penny, you are a Montgomery, and I expect you to act like one."

Penny sighed to herself. Acting like a Montgomery meant acting like she was the perfect Pureblood, looking down on anyone that did not think Purebloods were the superior wizarding status. Penny didn't agree at all with her family's views, but it wasn't like she could say anything on the matter, all she could do was nod her head and promise that she would do her best. Penny had never seen her father angry, and she would rather not start now. 

Penny brushed her black hair that matched her father's behind her ears, giving both of her parents one final hug before pushing her cart through the wall between platforms nine and ten and suddenly, there was the Hogwarts Express, looking grand and majestic before her. It was beautiful, and Penny just found herself staring at it in awe.

"Montgomery!" 

Penny turned around to look at Draco, who was striding up to her, his friends Crabbe and Goyle at his sides. Penny had never been a fan of either Crabbe and Goyle. They were simpletons, which was probably why Draco held on to them, they would follow him everywhere and never ask any questions.

"Malfoy." Penny greeted him, a smile on her pale lips. "You ready to finally begin Hogwarts?"

"Of course, I was born ready." Draco walked onto the train with Penny, leaving Crabbe and Goyle to follow behind them. Penny was his one true friend, the one that he felt like he could tell anything to and she would never think any less of him. "What house are you hoping to get in?"

"Slytherin naturally." Penny said as they sat in an empty compartment. She set down a cage that had a tawny brown owl, whom she had named Georgette, and she unlocked the cage. Georgette hopped out, flying onto Penny's shoulder and resting comfortably there. Georgette was quite small, she had basically been the runt among her brothers and sisters. Penny had fallen in love with her immediately and had basically begged her father to get him for her. Georgette barely left Penny's side, seeming to think of the girl as her mother. Penny smiled as she sat down, gently stroking Georgette on her head, and Georgette cooed happily. 

Draco's own eagle owl remained in his cage, the owl could be quite irritable, and had nipped Draco's fingers once or twice. Draco had of course complained about it to his parents, but the owl always acted perfect around his parents, so Narcissa had just told him that the owl wasn't used to him yet.

"I wish that my owl could behave like yours." Draco grumbled, causing Penny to laugh softly. "Maybe Georgette can give him some lessons. What's his name anyways?"

"Mateo." Draco responded. "Don't ask me why, my mother named him that. I think Mateo was a friend of hers in school or something along those lines."

"You know, now that I think about it, Mother has mentioned a Mateo every now and then." Penny said after thinking about it for a moment or two. "But whenever she mentions him, Father sends her this look and she shuts up about it. Quite odd really."

Draco shrugged his shoulders. "I wouldn't read too much into it. Maybe your father doesn't like him, or maybe they were enemies when they were in school or something like that."

The trolley lady came by then, asking the two if they wanted any sweets. Penny got a couple of chocolate frogs and some licorice wands, while Draco got some treacle tarts. 

"I don't understand how you can stand those things." Penny said, wincing a little bit as she watched Draco bite into the treat.

"These things are delicious." Draco retorted, and Penny pretended to gag. "Can you please not talk with your mouth full of food? That just makes it even more disgusting."

"Draco!" 

Penny groaned to herself as Pansy Parkinson came into the compartment and sat next to Draco, forcing Penny to move over to make room for her. Penny had never gotten along with Pansy, the girl had always had an almost unhealthy obsession with Draco for some odd reason, and she seemed to think that Penny stood in the way of her and Draco's happily ever after. 

Penny turned and stared out the window as Pansy droned on and on to Draco about Merlin only knew what, watching as trees and fields flew by. A girl came into the compartment, asking any of them if they had seen a toad. Penny replied that no, she hadn't. The girl had bushy brown hair, Penny didn't remember having ever seen her before.

Draco scoffed as the girl left. "She's probably a Mudblood." He sneered, and Penny frowned at him, but didn't say anything about the insult that he had used. Penny didn't understand all of the hate that the Pureblood families had for Muggle Borns, they all had magic didn't they? So why couldn't they just live peacefully? Penny didn't understand it, and her father had never bothered to explain it to her, all he had told her was that was the way that things had always been, and that was the way that they always would be. Penny noticed how late it had gotten and she got up, deciding to change into her robes, because they would soon be reaching the school.


	2. Chapter 2

When they got out of the train, Penny noticed that most of the students were going towards carriages that didn't seem to have any horses or other creatures to pull them, and she wondered how they even moved. Some spell she supposed. She and the rest of the first years were guided to a group of boats by a giant man with a jovial smile on his face. She heard him talking to someone, then she heard the name 'Harry'. As in Harry Potter? Penny had known that the Boy Who Lived was near her age, he must have just been starting at Hogwarts as well then. Penny couldn't even begin to imagine what it must have been like for him to have grown up without his parents, he must have felt so lonely.

Penny had been about to climb into a boat with Draco and Blaise Zabini, another boy that Penny had grown up with, when Pansy pushed her out of the way and climbed into the boat, sitting next to Draco. Penny growled softly. Was the whole year going to be like this then? She hoped not, because she was fairly certain that Pansy would end up dead by the end of the term.

A boy with raven hair and black glasses came up to her. "You can sit with us if you'd like." He offered. "We've got space for one more."

"Thanks." Penny said gratefully, following him over to his friend, a red haired boy that introduced himself as Ronald Weasley.

"I'm Penny Montgomery." 

"And I'm Harry." Harry stuck his hand out and Penny shook it. So this was Harry Potter than.She noticed how he hadn't given his last name. Poor guy, he probably didn't know what to do, Penny had heard that he'd been raised by Muggles with no knowledge of the wizarding world, no knowledge that he had somehow defeated one of the most powerful wizards of their age. He probably had no idea what to do with the fame that had suddenly been thrust upon him.

"It's nice to meet you Harry." Penny could feel Draco's gaze on her. Why would he care that she was talking to Harry? Maybe it was because she was talking with a Weasley, Penny knew that a lot of the Pureblood families considered the whole Weasley family to be blood traitors.

Penny climbed into one of the boats with Harry and Ron, the giant man helping her to make sure that she didn't fall into the lake. Once all of the boats were filled, the boats started making their way towards the castle, which was illuminated like a bright beacon in the dark night. 

Penny stared at it in awe. 'This is is where I'm going to be spending my next seven years', she thought to herself. For the next seven years, this was where she would be spending the majority of her time. She would be making new friends, experiencing new things. It was the next milestone in her life, and she couldn't wait to get started.

When everyone was off of the boats, they were all herded into a hall, where an older woman with a stern look on her face greeted them. Penny knew right away that this was a woman that she wouldn't want to cross. She looked fierce and formidable, definitely not someone whose bad side you would want to get on. She explained to the students what was going to happen, how they were all going to file into the Great Hall, whatever that was, and be sorted into their houses.

"What house are you hoping to get?" Ron asked Penny after the woman, who had introduced herself as Professor McGonagall, left to make sure that everything was ready. "I really want to get Gryffindor."

"I'm not really sure." Penny responded. "My parents want me to get sorted into Slytherin, but honestly, I don't really care what house I get, just so long as I get sorted. What about you Harry?"

But Harry didn't get to respond, because all of a sudden, Draco interrupted.

"So it's true then." Draco was leaning against the rail of a staircase, a cocky smirk on his face. Students started gasping and whispering among themselves, and Penny rolled her eyes. Honestly, couldn't they just leave him alone?

Malfoy introduced Crabbe and Goyle to Harry. "And I'm Malfoy, Draco Malfoy."

Ron snickered, and Penny had to bite back a giggle herself at the rather James Bond-like moment. Draco immediately turned on Ron. "Think my name's funny, do you? No need to ask you yours, red hair and a hand me down robe, you must be a Weasley." He then turned to look at Harry. "You'll soon find out that some wizarding families are better than others Potter, like myself and Montgomery. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there." He stuck his hand out for Harry to shake.

But Harry wasn't standing for any of it. "I think I can tell the wrong sort for myself, thanks."

Draco looked stunned at the fact that Harry had turned him down, nobody turned Draco Malfoy down, ever.

"Are you actually friends with that git?" Ron whispered to Penny, and the girl sighed. "He and I grew up together. He's actually nice...most of the time anyways." At least, he was whenever he and Penny were by themselves, when there wasn't a front, no name that he felt like he had to live up to. Draco was only eleven years old, but there was still a weight put upon him, just like there was a weight put on Penny. They both had to get into Slytherin, both had to make their families proud, had to uphold the family honor.

Penny didn't know what would happen if she were to get sorted into any house other than Slytherin. Her parents might have been okay with Ravenclaw? But Gryffindor or Hufflepuff? Forget it. Her mind went back to a few weeks ago, when her father had taken her shopping for her school supplies....

"Now Penny, there is something that you must remember." 

Penny and her father had just left Madame Malkin's, with new robes wrapped up neatly in a box. Penny saw the serious look that was on her father's face, knew that this was something that she had better pay close attention to. "Yes father?"

"You must get sorted into Slytherin. Every member of your family that's been in Hogwarts has always been sorted into Slytherin, and you must continue to uphold the family tradition."

"But what if I get sorted into another house other than Slytherin?" Penny didn't know what the big deal was. It was just a house, wasn't it?

"Than you'll shame our entire family." Walter looked down at his daughter. "You want to make us proud don't you?"

"Yes Father, more than anything."

"Than you'll make sure that you get sorted into Slytherin."

Penny shuddered as she recalled the memory. Although he hadn't explicitly told her what would happen if she wasn't sorted into Slytherin, the threat had been there in the tone of his voice.

"You alright?" Harry asked her, and Penny nodded her head. "Yeah, I'm okay. I'm sorry that Draco was such a jerk to you and Ron."

"Is he always like that?"

"He is when he thinks that he has to be big and bad. He comes from a rich Pureblood family Harry, as do I. A lot of those families...well, they have values, values that not everyone agrees with."

"What do you mean-" Harry was cut off as McGonagall reentered the room, it was time for the Sorting Ceremony to begin.


	3. Chapter 3

Penny walked into the Great Hall with the rest of the first years, and she bit her lip as she saw all of the students that were staring at them as they filed into the room. Penny had never really been one for the spotlight, and right now, that was exactly what she was in. Couldn't be as bad for her as it was for Harry though.

Penny saw a old and tattered hat on a stool. What was that for? Would they have to put on the hat? She jumped and gasped in surprise as the hat began to sing.

_"Oh you may not think I'm pretty,  
But don't judge on what you see,  
I'll eat myself if you can find  
A smarter hat than me.  
  
You can keep your [bowlers](https://harrypotter.fandom.com/wiki/Bowler) black,  
Your [top hats](https://harrypotter.fandom.com/wiki/Top_hat) sleek and tall,  
For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat  
And I can cap them all.  
  
There's nothing hidden in your head  
The Sorting Hat can't see,  
So try me on and I will tell you  
Where you ought to be.  
  
You might belong in Gryffindor,  
Where dwell the brave at heart,  
Their daring, nerve, and chivalry  
Set Gryffindors apart;  
  
You might belong in Hufflepuff,  
Where they are just and loyal,  
Those patient Hufflepuffs are true  
And unafraid of toil;  
  
Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,  
if you've a ready mind,  
Where those of wit and learning,  
Will always find their kind;  
  
Or perhaps in Slytherin  
You'll make your real friends,  
Those cunning folks use any means  
To achieve their ends.  
  
So put me on! Don't be afraid!  
And don't get in a flap!  
You're in safe hands (though I have none)  
For I'm a Thinking Cap!"_

Well, that was...interesting, to say the very least. Penny definitely hadn't been expecting the hat to start talking. But this was the wizarding world after all, and Penny should have learned by now to not be surprised by anything. She watched as the girl who had been searching for the toad was sorted into Gryffindor. Odd, Penny had thought her to be kind of bookish and would have thought for sure that she would have been sorted into Ravenclaw. Crabbe and Goyle were both sorted into Slytherin, as was Theodore Nott, no surprise there.

Finally....finally, it was Penny's turn.

"Montgomery, Penny!" McGonagall called out, and Penny glanced at Harry and Ron, who both gave her reassuring smiles as she made her way towards the stool, hopping up on it, her feet dangling a inch or two off of the ground.

"Well now, this is most interesting..."

It took Penny a moment before she realized that it was the Sorting Hat that was speaking, and that he was speaking to her.

"Most interesting indeed..." The Sorting Hat continued. "You come from a very long line of Purebloods, yet you do not share any of your family's values. You have no qualms with Muggle Borns, and you couldn't care less what House you would be sorted into, were it not for your father."

Penny gasped softly. How had the Sorting Hat known that?

"You are naturally curious, you would be perfect for Ravenclaw, yet you are also extremely ambitious, and can be very sly when you have to be, and you want your family to be proud of you."

It was true, Penny _did_ want her family to be proud of her. Her father...well, Penny knew that he loved her, but he never told her good job for _anything_. And then there had been what he had said when they were in Diagon Alley...

It seemed that the Sorting Hat had made up his decision. "Are you sure? Very well then.....better be....SLYTHERIN!"

Penny felt a certain sense of relief at being sorted into the house of green and silver. Most of her friends were in this house, although the downside to it all was that she was in the same house as Pansy Parkinson, and that meant that she would have to be sharing a dorm with the girl, and it wouldn't surprise her if a shrine to Draco would be going up at some point.

Penny hardly listened as Dumbledore gave his speech, she was focused on when they would be able to eat their food, because she was starving enough that she could probably eat a whole Hippogriff.

Finally, food appeared in front of them, and they were allowed to start eating. Penny immediately began to load up her plate, and a girl who was sitting next to her, a fifth year with pale skin and blonde hair, sniffed at her. "You shouldn't be eating so much you know, us Slytherin girls need to be perfect, and we can't have perfect bodies if we eat....all of this."

Penny had been in the middle of eating a chicken wing when the girl had started to talk. "Well then, I guess that it's lucky for me that I really don't care about being 'perfect' then, isn't it?"

"You keep eating like that, you'll end up just like her." The girl pointed to another Slytherin girl who looked like she was in maybe her third or fourth year, with curly brown hair, and the bluest eyes that Penny had ever seen. She had a bit of chub to her, but it wasn't like she weighed five hundred pounds, which was what this older girl was making her out to be, and honestly, it was starting to make Penny mad.

"Just who the hell do you think you are?" Penny demanded, and the blonde girl, along with her friends that were gathered around her, looked at Penny in surprise. 

Penny's hands were clenched into fists. "Who do you think that you are, judging people like that? She may not be the ideal weight, but if having a little more weight means that I don't wind up a total bitch like yourself, than so be it." Penny stood up, gathering up her plate and silverware before going over and joining the brunette, who gave Penny a shy smile. "You didn't have to do that you know." She told Penny as the raven haired girl sat down. "I'm used to them talking to me like that."

"You shouldn't have to be used to it." Penny said, sending the other girl a look that was so venomous, it caused her to shrink back a little bit. "She's a jerk that needs to be put in her place. I'm so glad that she isn't in my dorm, otherwise I just might strangle her in her sleep."

"Not like it would be hard to do, have you seen how scrawny her neck is?"

Penny laughed at that, and she held her hand out for the girl to shake. "My name's Penny Montgomery."

"Amelia Hanover." Amelia shook Penny's hand, she had a pretty strong grip, Penny thought that she would make a really good Beater on the Quidditch team. "It's nice to meet you Amelia."

The two girls began chatting, and Penny found out that they had a lot in common. They both loved Crups, both loved to play Wizard's Chess. Penny hadn't had a lot of friends that were girls, she just hadn't gotten along with the girls in the families that her parents were friends with, except for maybe the Greengrasses, and even then, that friendship had felt forced. But there was nothing forced about this friendship at all, Penny thought that she and Amelia were going to get along great.

After dinner, the Slytherin a prefect brought the first years towards the dungeons, where they explained the dorms would be. Penny inwardly groaned at that, dungeons were cold and damp, she hoped that the dorms wouldn't be like that.

She was pleasantly surprised however. They came to a vacant space of stone wall, and the prefect stopped walking.

"Pureblood." The male said, and Penny gasped as the common room was revealed. It wasn't cold or damp at all, in fact, it was quite warm and cozy.  
"This is our common room." The prefect explained. "After lessons, you can come back here to study or to just even hang out and mingle with each other. Dorms are this way."

Once in her dorm, Penny had started to get ready for bed immediately, as it had been a really long day and the eleven year old was beyond exhausted. Her mind wandered to Harry and Ron as she laid down in her bed and pulled her curtains shut. What would they think about her being sorted into Slytherin? She knew that Ron basically hated the house, and she wondered if this would make him hate her as well. She hoped not, she quite liked hanging out with Ron and Harry.

Knowing that she wouldn't be able to find out until morning, Penny got under her blankets, and she fell asleep almost immediately.


	4. Chapter 4

As it turned out, Ron wasn't the happiest about Penny being sorted into Slytherin. "You're a bloody snake!"

"Ron, it isn't a big deal-" Harry tried to stand up for Penny, but Ron wasn't having it. "You don't get it Harry! Practically every dark witch and wizard that sided with you-know-who came from Slytherin!"

"Just because I'm in Slytherin, it doesn't mean that I'm going to be going around hexing people." Penny replied hotly.

Ron scoffed, rolling his eyes. "I'm sure that it's only a matter of time."

Harry looked torn. Ron was his best friend, the first friend that he had made, _ever_ , but he was also friends with Penny, and he thought that Ron was being really unfair towards her. "Ron, don't you think that maybe you're being just a tad overdramatic?"

Ron stared at Harry. "You've gotta be kidding me Harry. She's friends with _Malfoy_ , so really it's going to happen any day now isn't it?"

"Draco isn't a bad person!" Penny snapped. They were in the hallway outside of the Great Hall, and people were stopping to watch the fight. "He may be a jerk at times, but deep down he's a good person! I know that he is!"

"Keep telling yourself that." Ron sneered. "Come on Harry, let's not be hanging around the _snake_ any longer." He stormed off, and Harry bit his lip as he glanced at Penny. "I'm sorry." He mumbled before walking off after Ron.

Penny stared at their retreating backs. Was that really what Ron thought of her? That she was nothing but a snake? Someone that would eventually stab them in the back?

"The blood traitor finally ditch you?" Draco asked as he walked up to her. "Good riddance I say-"

"Oh be quiet." Penny growled. "The only reason that he 'ditched' me was because of _you_. I defended you, and this is what it got me. Why do you have to be such a jerk to him Draco?"

"Penny, he isn't like us, you know that. He's poor as hell-"

"Do you honestly think that I give a damn how much money Ron has? It isn't money that makes a person Draco. In fact, I've found that the more money a person has, the meaner that they tend to be, and you just proved my point."

Penny turned on her heel, leaving Draco standing in the middle of the hallway, looking extremely confused and wondering what the bloody hell had just happened.

That day, in Potions class, Penny ignored Draco, Harry and Ron, sitting with a Gryffindor girl who introduced herself as Parvati Patil. She was quite nice, she and Penny got along rather well, and they had agreed to be partners in Potions for the rest of the year. Penny watched as Professor Snape turned on Harry, asking him questions that Harry had no clue about what the answers could possibly be. Even though Penny was supposed to be mad at him, she couldn't help but think that Snape was being just a tad unfair to Harry. Harry had been raised in the Muggle world, so how was Harry supposed to know what happens when you add powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood, or what a bezoar was, or the difference between monkshood and wolfbane?

"Montgomery." Snape turned to look at Penny, and she found herself shrinking back a bit under his calculating gaze. "Maybe you can enlighten Potter and tell him what the answers to these questions are."

"Um..." Penny tried to think. Her mother was an expert in Potions, and Penny would often watch her make the various potions, and her mother would teach her little things here and there. "Asphodel and wormwood are used to make a sleeping draught called Draught of the Living Death, a bezoar is a stone found in the stomach of a goat that can save you from most poisons, and I believe that monkshood and wolfsbane are the same, aren't they?"

"Correct." Snape said. "Twenty points to Slytherin." He seemed to smirk at Harry as he said this, and Ron sent Penny a glare.

"Ron really seems to hate you, doesn't he?" Parvati whispered to Penny as Snape continued the lesson, and Penny nodded her head. "Everything was all fine and peachy until I got sorted into Slytherin, and then Ron was certain that I would suddenly become this dark witch that would stab them in the back. And then Draco had the gall to start mouthing off to me about how I would be better off without him, simply because of the fact that the Weasleys don't have a lot of money."

"He seems like a real jerk, so how come you're friends with him?"

"Draco is really nice when it's just the two of us, at least, he used to be. Draco thinks that he needs to act all big and bad in front of others to keep up Malfoy appearances." Penny started to make notes of the lesson, her quill scratching at the parchment roll. "I miss who Draco used to be, and I just hope that one day the old Draco will come back."

Penny glanced at the blonde as she spoke, and her green eyes met his grey ones before she quickly looked away again. When class ended, she quickly gathered up her things. She had Transfiguration next, with the Ravenclaws. She sat next to a boy with light brown hair and auburn eyes, who introduced himself as Derek Halloran. He was quite a nice boy, easy to get along with, and Penny found out that they had a lot in common. Like her, he came from a rich Pureblood family.

"They were disappointed when I was sorted into Ravenclaw." He told her as they waited for class to start. "I'm the first person in two generations to not get sorted into Slytherin."

"Trust me, I know where you're coming from, sort of. My father hinted that if I didn't get sorted into Slytherin, that bad things would happen." Penny just didn't understand it. At least she wasn't a Squib though, right?

McGonagall walked into the classroom, and their conversation was abruptly halted, leaving Penny to mull things over in her mind.


	5. Chapter 5

After that day, Penny started to hang out with Derek and his friends. HIs friends were wary of her at first because of the reputation that Slytherin had, but Derek assured them that she wasn’t like most of her Slytherin counterparts, and soon enough, they became her friends as well. Penny began to notice drastic differences between these friends, and the people that her father had forced her to befriend. Derek and his friends were kind and accepting of everyone, even when some of the older Slytherins were bullying them, they stuck it out, remaining cordial and polite until it got too far, and then the tables turned. Derek and the others were great pranksters and they often helped the Weasley twins with their pranks. “Just because we’re Ravenclaws, it doesn’t mean that we always have our noses stuck in a book.” Derek explained to Penny. It was the beginning of October, and the two were studying together in the Ravenclaw common room, in front of a roaring fire. Penny was having some trouble with Transfiguration, and Derek was helping her through it. Somewhere along the line they began to talk about the stereotypes of the different houses. Derek had told her that not all Hufflepuffs were loyal, during the first wizarding war, there had been a select few that had turned towards the dark side and joined Voldemort. “You’re another example.” Derek pointed out to the girl. “One of the stereotypes of Slytherins is that they’re all bullies and future Death Eaters, but somehow I think that there’s no way you would become a Death Eater.” “You’re talking like you think that we might have Death Eaters again.” Penny’s emerald colored eyes clouded over with confusion and worry. “You-know-who is gone, so Death Eaters aren’t something that we should have to worry about….right?” Derek sighed softly. “The thing is Penny...I’m wondering if he actually is dead. You know how he killed Harry’s parents and tried to kill Harry as well?” Penny nodded her head. “Yeah, the spell backfired somehow and he was killed.” “Penny, he tried to use the Killing Curse, if that were to backfire, he shouldn’t have just disappeared, they would have found his body.” “They said that there was an explosion-” “They still would have found something remaining, charred parts of his body, his wand, something. But they didn’t find anything, and I find that highly suspicious.” Penny was even more confused now than she had been previously. “So if you-know-who isn’t dead, than...where is he?” “If you ask me, I think that he’s hiding somewhere.” Derek stared at the dancing flames in the fireplace. “Even though the spell may not have killed him, it had to have severely weakened him. I bet you anything that he’s in hiding somewhere, just waiting for his time. He’s trying to grow stronger so that he can finish what it was that he started, and the first thing that he’s going to do is come after Harry so that he can get his revenge.” The two were silent, each thinking about different things. While Derek was thinking about the possibility of Voldemort being alive, Penny was thinking about the danger that Harry could be in. Sure they had been in a fight, but that didn’t mean that she wanted him to die. She had to warn him. Besides, she missed him, and she would be lying if she said that she didn’t miss Ron as well. She missed Draco too, but with the way that he had been acting recently, she didn’t think that being friends with him would be very good for her personally. It might be good for her social status, but she didn’t exactly care what people thought about her, popularity didn’t mean all that much to her, unlike most of the girls that attended Hogwarts. Although Penny was sure that Pansy Parkinson was delighted that she no longer had to compete for Draco’s affections anymore. “What’s on your mind?” Derek finally spoke up, and Penny shook her head. “If you-know-who is still alive, than I need to tell Harry about it.” “Will he even talk to you? Didn’t you guys get into a fight or something like that?” “Harry is still my friend, and I have to at least try to warn him.” Penny stood up, shoving her books into her bag. “Wish me luck.” “Good luck.” Derek called out as Penny went out the door, and he shook his head, he wished her the best of luck with what she was trying to do. Unfortunately, Harry had gone back to his common room, so Penny had to wait until someone came either in or out to ask if they could go and fetch him. She hoped that he would want to talk to her, she didn’t know if he would, maybe Ron had gotten into his head, convinced him that because she was a Slytherin, that she wasn’t any good, that she didn’t have a good bone in her body, that she was one hundred percent evil. Penny saw Neville Longbottom coming up the stairs, and she sighed in relief. She and Neville had spoken once or twice, he had seemed really scared every time that she tried to talk to him, maybe he was afraid that she would try to hex him or something along those lines. She couldn’t really blame him, she imagined that he got pushed around a lot by other people. “Neville! Do you mind doing something for me? Can you have Harry come out here, tell him that I want to talk to him?” “P-Penny?” Neville stammered out, he definitely hadn’t been expecting to come across her outside of his common room. “W-what do you w-want to talk to Harry for?” “He, Ron and I got into a bit of a fight a while back.” Penny explained. “Well, it was less of a fight and more of Ron yelling at me and calling me evil, but that doesn’t matter. I don’t think that Ron is ready to try and be friends with me again just yet, but I’d like to try and repair things with Harry if I can. So can you go and get him for me?” Neville nodded his head. “Um...can you cover your ears or something while I say the password?” Penny gave him a smile as she covered her ears. Neville said the password, and the Fat Lady granted him entrance. About ten minutes later Harry came out of the portrait hole, and Ron was with him. Penny honestly wasn’t all that surprised that Ron was with him, the Weasley boy was probably afraid that she would try to hex Harry or kill him or something like that. “Penny?” Harry was clearly surprised to see her there. “What are you doing here?” His tone wasn’t an unkind one, more a surprised and confused one. “Can we talk?” Penny asked him quietly, biting her lip. ‘What do you want to talk to him for, snake?” Ron sneered at her, and Penny looked away. It really hurt her that Ron had ended their friendship simply because she had been sorted into Slytherin. He was in Gryffindor and she was still willing to be friends with him, so why couldn’t he do the same thing for her? The two identical looking faces popped their heads out of the portrait hole. Fred and George. “Montgomery!” Fred, or was it George? Whoever it was, he gave her a big smile. “You’re still coming with Derek to help us with our prank on Snape this weekend aren’t you?” “Of course I am.” Penny responded, flashing them a smile. “You know her?” Ron asked his twin brothers incredulously. “Of course we do!” They said simultaneously. It always freaked Penny out whenever they did that, it was like they had one mind or something. “Penny’s helped us with quite a few of our pranks.” George explained. “Along with some of her Ravenclaw friends. Never would have thought that a Slytherin even knew how to have fun, but you get surprised every day, don’t you? Now come on little brother, it’s time that you were in bed.” George grabbed Ron by the collar of his shirt, pulling him back into the common room and leaving Harry and Penny alone outside of the portrait hole. “Um...do you want to go for a walk?” Harry asked her, somewhat awkwardly. “We still have a little bit before curfew.” Penny nodded her head. “Yeah, I’d like that.” The two of them roamed the hallways in silence for a bit before Penny spoke up. “Harry...do you...do you hate me for being sorted into Slytherin?” “Of course not.” Harry shook his head adamantly. “I could never hate you Penny. It doesn’t matter what house you get sorted into, it doesn’t change who you are as a person.” “I’m sure that if you told Ron that, he wouldn’t agree.” She commented dryly, and Harry chuckled a little bit. “I’m sure that he’ll come around eventually. Look Penny, I’m really sorry that I didn’t defend you when he started yelling at you, it was wrong of me to just follow him.” “I get it Harry, he was your friend, I wish that I could say I wouldn’t do the same thing, but I probably would have.” “You stood up to Malfoy though, and he was your friend.” “That’s different. I stood up to Malfoy because he was being a jerk. Ron was raised to think that all Slytherins were evil, and honestly, I don’t blame him. But there’s something else that I need to talk to you about.” Penny looked around before pulling him into a deserted hallway. “Derek and I were studying today, and then we got to talking about you-know-who-” “The man who killed my parents?” “And who also tried to kill you? Yeah, that you-know-who, not that there’s that many you-know-whos, not that I know of. Anyways, we were talking, and Derek mentioned that he thinks that you-know-who might still be alive.” “But people told me that he was dead!” “Shush! Keep your voice down, unless you want us to be caught by Filch and Mrs. Norris, I don’t think that this is a hallway that we’re supposed to be in. But listen Harry, the spell that he had used to try and kill you was the Killing Curse. If it did backfire, then it should have killed him instantly. And it wouldn’t have burned him into ashes or anything like that, it would have left his body intact. So how come there was no body? The only explanation is that he survived. The spell would have to have left him really weak, or else he would have tried to kill you again. You need to be really careful Harry.” “But Hagrid told me that Hogwarts is one of the safest places that I could be.” “Harry…” Penny’s voice was urgent. “You-know-who is an extremely powerful wizard, you don’t think that he’ll try to find a way past that? Hogwarts may be guarded, but even the safest of places has chinks in the armor. Just...be careful, okay? Don’t go anywhere by yourself.” Harry snorted a bit. “Ron follows me everywhere that I go, so that won’t be a problem. Thanks for warning me Penny. You know...I really wish that we could be friends again, I miss you.” Penny sighed softly. “I miss you too Harry, but I don’t really think that Ron would be too happy to learn that we’re friends again, he might think that you’re a traitor or something.” “Ron will get over it.” Harry pulled the raven haired girl into a hug. “So what do you say? Friends again?” Penny nodded as her arms wrapped around Harry, hugging him tightly. “Friends again.” She repeated, and Harry smiled warmly as he pulled away from the hug. “Now that’s settled...what are you going to do about Draco? I know that he hurt you with what he said. Are you going to forgive him?” “I…” Penny sighed softly. “I don’t know. He never used to be this bad, he’s turning more and more into his father every day. I don’t want to give up on him, but that kind of attitude isn’t healthy to be around.” “Whatever you decide, you’ll have my support. I may not like Malfoy all that much, but if you want to continue to be friends with him, than I’m not going to stop you, and I’ll make sure that Ron doesn’t get into the middle of things either.” “Thank you Harry, I really appreciate that. Now, I think that we both need to get some rest.” She sent him a wink. “After all, I have to help humiliate Snape tomorrow and I need my beauty sleep if I’m going to be at peak performance.” Harry laughed lightly. “I can’t wait to see the end result of that prank, I already hate Snape with a passion.” “You and ninety percent of the school population.” Penny gave him another quick hug before heading off towards the Slytherin common room. Things were starting to look a little bit brighter now, if only she knew how dark things would become in the days and years to come.


	6. Chapter 6

Penny’s arms were aching as she scrubbed out a cauldron, part of her punishment for helping the twins to prank Snape. The prank had backfired, and instead of just turning Snape’s hair a different color, like they had originally planned, Snape had gone bald instead. Naturally he had been furious, Penny had no idea who had ratted them out to him, but it didn’t matter, Penny had a feeling that he would have known that it was Fred and George anyways, but what she wanted to know was who had pinned the blame on her.

“I’ll bet you anything that it was Parkinson.” Fred said, his face nearly matched his hair from the exertion of cleaning the cauldrons. Snape had confiscated their wands, meaning that they had to clean out the cauldrons by hand. “She hates you, and even if you hadn’t been involved in it, she probably would have thrown you under the bus anyways.”

“Oh, I’m going to be getting back at her.” Penny grumbled. She couldn’t understand why Pansy hated her so much, but it was just as well, because Penny couldn’t stand the simpering little girl. “It’s disgusting how she fawns herself all over Draco, and I have to keep myself from puking every time that she calls him ‘Dracey-poo’.”

“Speaking of Malfoy,” Derek called from across the room where he had been cleaning off Snape’s chalkboard. “Are you two still not speaking to each other?”

“He tries to talk to me, but I’m not having a thing to do with him until he changes his attitude and straightens up.” He was starting to become the spitting image of Lucius Malfoy, and Penny wasn’t having it. He was going to have to choose, and if he didn’t choose her, than she would have no choice except to move on with her life.

Snape entered the room then, his eyes sweeping over the room. “You may go.” He said coldly, shoving their wands into their hands before shooing them out of the room. “Momtgomery, a letter arrived for you from your father.” Penny could see that it was a Howler, and she took it with slightly trembling fingers. As soon as she had opened it, her father’s voice could be heard shouting at her, telling her what a disgrace she was to the family name for hanging around a bunch of Mudbloods and blood traitors.

“Penny Louise, I swear to Merlin that if you don’t straighten up, I’m going to make sure that you regret it! And don’t even think about coming home for Christmas this year, you can stay with the Weasleys seeing as how you’re on such friendly terms with them.”

There was silence for a long moment, then George wrapped an arm around Penny, a worried look in his eyes. “Are you okay?” He asked her quietly, and Penny nodded her head, but it was clear that she was anything but okay. What did he mean when he said that she was going to regret it? Was he going to hurt her when she went home for the summer? She didn’t know. George led her out of the room. “It’s alright Penny, he can’t do anything to you while you’re here, and look on the bright side. We’re staying here because Mum and Dad are going to be visiting Charlie in Romania.”

“I’m staying as well.” Derek piped up. “So we can all spend Christmas together.”

“It’ll be great.” Fred insisted. “You’ll see Pen.”

It wasn’t Christmas that Penny was worried about, rather, it was the summer holidays, but those were a long way off, so Penny decided to not worry about it just now. “You’re right, this is gonna be the best Christmas ever.”

  
  


Halloween was upon them now. The trees outside were losing their leaves, and they made a brilliant crunching sound whenever you walked on them that Penny loved. She loved the fall, it wasn’t blazing hot, but it also wasn’t freezingly cold. She was walking with Ron and Harry. Ron had grudgingly accepted Penny back into their little friend group, with a bit of arm twisting from his older brothers. He was currently complaining about Hermione Granger. “She’s a bloody nightmare, it’s no wonder that she doesn’t have any friends.”

Penny heard a sniffle from behind them and to her horror, Hermione was there, and she had heard every word that had come out of Ron’s mouth. She ran off, and Penny glared daggers at the red haired boy. “Way to go Ronald.” She said coldly. “You have officially become a bully. Maybe you and Draco would get along after all.” She ran off after Hermione, following her into the girl’s bathroom.

“Hermione…” Penny slowly walked over to her. “Are you alright?” Of course she wasn’t alright, she wouldn’t be crying if she wasn’t alright. “Don’t listen to what Ron said, he doesn’t know what he’s talking about. He’s probably just jealous.”

“Why would he be jealous of me?” Hermione’s voice quivered, her brown eyes were puffy, her pale cheeks stained with tears. “I’m just a know it all who thinks that she’s better than everyone else.”

Penny shook her head as she reached into her robe, pulling out a handkerchief and dabbing at Hermione’s eyes, wiping the tears away. “You are so much more than that Hermione Granger. You’re the smartest person in our year, I’m amazed that you were sorted into Gryffindor and not Ravenclaw. You don’t act like you’re better than everyone else. Trust me, I would know, considering that I’m surrounded by people who think that of themselves. You’re nothing like them.” Penny gave her a small hug. “I know that you probably don’t want to listen to the words of a Slytherin-”

“I don’t mind that you’re a Slytherin.” Hermione whispered. “You aren’t like most of them, you’re actually nice.”

“There are a few nice Slytherins, believe it or not.” Penny said with a small laugh. “You should meet my friend Amelia, I think that you would really like her-”

There was a crash, and the bathroom door was thrown off of its hinges. Penny gasped as a troll lumbered into the bathroom. It was easily twelve feet tall at least, maybe even taller than that. It let out a roar, and Hermione screamed in fear. Penny instantly jumped in front of her, holding her wand out. They couldn’t run, the troll was blocking their only way out. 

“ _Stupefy_!” Penny shouted, but the spell didn’t do anything. If anything, it only served to make the troll angry. It let out another roar and swung a giant club that it had in its hand. Penny went flying, hitting one of the mirrors, causing the glass to break and shatter all around her as she hit the ground. Glass cut her arms, neck and legs, although she had managed to cover her face so that part of her body was relatively undamaged.

“Penny!” Hermione shrieked. With its free hand, the troll reached down and grabbed Penny, flinging her around like she weighed nothing more than a rag doll. He was squeezing her tightly, Penny was finding it difficult to breathe. She definitely hadn’t expected a troll to be the way that she would die, but at least it wasn’t a boring death like old age or something like that. She had just been about to pass out from lack of oxygen when Harry and Ron burst into the room. Harry shot a spell at the troll, and it roared once more, flinging Penny at the boys like she was a bowling ball. Harry caught Penny in his arms, and the two tumbled to the ground.

“Are you alright?” Harry asked her breathlessly. Penny wasn’t able to talk, she merely shook her head to indicate that no, no she wasn’t okay. Derek entered the room then, and he stared in awe at the troll. “Bloody hell…” He whispered.

“Derek, take Penny, get her to the hospital wing!” Harry helped Penny up, handing her over to him. “We’ll get Hermione!”

Derek wrapped his arms around Penny, helping her out of the room and towards the hospital wing. They were about halfway there when they ran into Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape. 

“What on Earth-” McGonagall gasped. 

“The troll.” Derek explained to her, as Penny was in no shape to do so. “Hermione and Penny had been in the girl’s bathroom, it just barged in there I guess. Penny is hurt really badly Professor. Hermione is still in the bathroom, along with Harry and Ron.”

“Mr. Halloran, continue on your way to the hospital wing.” McGonagall informed him. “Professor Snape and I will take care of the other children.” The two Professors scurried on their way, and Penny and Derek continued on their way to the infirmary. Penny stumbled, and Derek caught her before she could hit the ground. “Penny!”

Penny couldn’t go on anymore. She had no strength left, and her eyes started to close. Derek’s voice began to lessen as she slipped into a pain induced oblivion.

A/N: So what do you guys think so far? What do you think of Penny? What do you think is going to happen next? Let me know in the comments!


	7. Chapter 7

Penny groaned as a bright light invaded her still somewhat cloudy vision. “Can someone turn that down please?” Her voice sounded hoarse, like it hadn’t been used in some time.

“We were wondering when you were going to wake up Miss Montgomery.” Penny couldn’t see who it was that was talking, but the voice was female, and sounded distinctly older than herself. Madame Pomfrey came into her field of vision. “You’ve been unconscious for three days now Miss Montgomery, and no wonder either. Three fractured ribs, one of them nearly pierced your lungs. If Mr. Halloran had taken any longer to get you here, than you may not have woken up at all.”

“I….the troll…” Penny was trying to sort all her thoughts, which seemed to be scattered all over the place. 

“Your friends are fine, somehow they managed to subdue the troll. Your friends are going to be getting into quite a bit of mischief during their years here, I can tell. Hopefully you don’t get into nearly as much trouble, goodness knows we had our hands full with your mother-”

“You knew my mother?” Penny asked, and Madame Pomfrey nodded her head. “Yes indeed, she hung around with Mr. Potter’s father and his little group that always followed him around.”

Penny’s mother had been friends with Harry’s father? This was a shocking revelation to Penny. Penny’s mother had never liked talking about her school years for some reason, and would always change the subject whenever it was brought up.

“A shame what happened to that Mateo boy.” Madame Pomfrey went on to say. Mateo? Wasn’t that the name of Draco’s owl?

“Who was Mateo Madame Pomfrey?”

But the matron just shook her head. “It’s not a story that children need to know. If you want to know about him, ask your mother, but you’ll not be hearing it from me. Now, you’ll need to be staying here another day so that I can observe you and make sure that nothing else is wrong.”

Madame Pomfrey walked away, and Penny was left alone with her thoughts. Someone tragic had happened to Mateo, a boy that Draco’s mother….and perhaps her own...had known while they were in school together. But Madame Pomfrey had insinuated that something had happened to Mateo. But what was it exactly? Did he die? Penny didn’t know, but she was going to dig into it, and she wasn’t going to stop until she got the answers that she wanted.

  
  


The next morning, Penny was released from the hospital wing. Hermione apologized for not coming to see her as they walked to History of Magic together. “Madame Pomfrey wouldn’t let you have any visitors. Draco had tried to visit you and had an absolute fit when she wouldn’t let him in to see you, threatened to tell his father, not that that fazed Madame Pomfrey in the least bit. You really should talk things out with him. I never thought the day would come that I actually care about Malfoy, but he’s miserable. Ron was taunting him yesterday and Malfoy didn’t even have a comeback for him, he just walked away.”

Penny bit her lip. Was Draco really that miserable without her? Surely he had other friends that he could hang around. But were they close enough that Draco could tell them stuff? Now that Penny didn’t know. She and Draco had always been able to tell each other anything, without fear of judgement or their parents finding out. Ever since their fight, Penny had felt like something was missing, and that missing piece was Draco.

Hermione seemed to know exactly what Penny was thinking. “Go and find him.” She urged her.

“But class-”

“Can wait. Besides, it’s not like you stay awake to listen to what Professor Binns is saying anyways.”

Penny couldn’t believe it, was Hermione really telling her to just ditch class? She grinned at her. “You know, I think that Harry and Ron are starting to rub off on you.”

“I think so too, but for God’s sake, don’t go telling them that, goodness knows that I would never hear the end of it from Ronald.”

Penny laughed before taking off, her bookbag thumping against her leg as she searched all over the school for Draco. She finally found him on the Astronomy Tower, he was looking out at the Quidditch Pitch. 

“Shouldn’t you be in class?” He said as she walked up to him, and Penny sighed softly. “I could be asking you that same thing.”

Draco shrugged his shoulders. “I haven’t really felt like it. Besides, it’s not like History of Magic is anything special.”

“It’s a good time for a nap, I think that’s why most of the students bother showing up.”

Draco chuckled softly at that. “Look, Penny-”

“I’m sorry.” Penny blurted out. “I shouldn’t have just left you in the dirt like that. You’re my friend, and I should have realized how that would affect you. It’s just, I was so mad-”

Draco shook his head. “I’m mostly to blame for it, Weasley, for some odd reason, is your friend, and I shouldn’t have been saying those sorts of things in front of you.”

Well, Penny thought that really he shouldn’t have been saying those things period, but this was definitely a good start. “I suppose that we both have things that we need to apologize for, don’t we?”

“I guess so.” Draco looked at her, and Penny could see just how much this separation had been affecting him. There were bags under his eyes, indicating that he hadn’t been sleeping well. “I’m really sorry Penny, can we be friends again?”

“Draco, we never stopped being friends, I just...needed time to cool down a bit.”

“Does it always take you weeks on end to stop being mad at somebody?”

She laughed softly at that. “Sometimes, it depends on who the person is. I got pissed off at my father once, refused to talk to him for an entire month.”

“You can be really stubborn when you want to be, are you sure that you aren’t secretly a Gryffindor?”

“Whatever you do, don’t be going and telling my father that, he’s mad enough at me as it is.”

Draco frowned slightly upon hearing that. “I heard that he sent you a Howler.” He said, and Penny bit her lip before nodding her head. “He was really angry when he learned that I was friends with Ron and the twins, told me that I wasn’t welcomed home for Christmas.”

“I could ask my father to see if you could come to Malfoy Manor for the holidays.”

“I appreciate it, but I already promised them that I would stay at the castle for Christmas.”

“Are you sure? You know how much my mother loves to see you.” 

“I’m sure, but thanks Draco.” She gave the platinum blonde a quick hug. “Now come on, while we may have been able to get away with not going to HIstory of Magic, I have the feeling that Professor Snape isn’t going to be as lenient.”


	8. Chapter 8

The month quickly flew by, and October turned into November. It was colder, with sharp winds biting at the students that dared to venture out into the courtyard. Penny stayed inside most days, she wasn’t made for the cold, and would often stay bundled up with a coat or warm blanket wrapped around her shoulders. She got a letter from her mother every now and then, but never anything from her father. He had shunned her, and her mother had to be careful about when she sent the letters, because Penny’s father had demanded that she break off all contact with their daughter. 

‘ _ Your father is very passionate about his beliefs’ _ , Penny’s mother wrote to her in a letter near Thanksgiving. Penny scoffed, shaking her head as she read the letter. Her father was starting to show his true colors now, and she didn’t know why she hadn’t seen it sooner.

“It’s not your fault.” Harry said, trying to console her. The two of them were walking with Hermione and Ron to the library so that they could study for an upcoming Charms test. Ron still hadn’t quite gotten the  _ Wingardium Leviosa  _ spell down right so Hermione was going to help him with that while Penny and Harry worked on some other spellwork. “If anything, it’s my fault.”

“I don’t care what my father says.” Penny told him as they entered the library. Madame Pince gave them a stern look at Penny’s raised voice and the girl quickly lowered it. “He’s not going to tell me who I can or can’t be friends with. If my friends happen to be Muggle Borns or blood traitors, than so be it. The whole blood status thing is just plain stupid anyways.”

“How you’re friends with that bloody Malfoy I’ll never know.” Ron said as they all sat down at one of the wooden tables, pulling out their copies of  _ The Standard Book of Spells _ . Hermione and Ron got to work, while Harry and Penny started to work on the Wand Lighting Charm.

“The stronger the spell is, the brighter the light will be.” Penny said before demonstrating for Harry. “ _ Lumos _ .” The tip of her wand glowed a warm yellow color. “If it’s really strong than it will look like the beam of a flashlight.”

“Are you sure that you don’t mind staying with us at the castle for Christmas?” Harry asked as they continued to practice the spell, and Penny shook her head. “It’s always boring at my house around Christmas time anyways.” She assured him. “My parents would always hold a ball, and the only one there that I would know would be Draco, and maybe Blaise if his mother decided that we were worthy of her gracing us with her presence.”

“Are the rumors about her true?” Harry asked in a hushed tone. “Has she really killed all of her previous husbands?”

“I honestly don’t know, but all of her husbands have died in mysterious circumstances. She always seems to have an alibi though, so I suppose that no one will ever know. I do find it suspicious that she seems to find someone new to marry every time that her previous husband’s fortune is about depleted. I wonder who her next victim is going to be…”

“You shouldn’t be talking about nasty rumours like that.” Hermione scolded them, causing Penny to roll her eyes. “Hermione, even Blaise, her own  _ son _ , thinks that the rumors have some credibility to them. That has to tell you something about it.”

“What made Blaise suspicious about it?” Ron joined in on their conversation now.

“Because she never seems to love any of the men that she marries.” Penny replied. “That and the way that they die. One of her husbands was found drowned in a river, another died due to poisoning. It was said that Blaise’s father died of alcohol poisoning, but according to his father’s friends, Blaise’s father rarely drank.”

Even Hermione had to admit that was oddly suspicious. “Well...I suppose that it might have some merit after all...I hope that you aren’t planning on chasing this down Penny.”

Penny giggled softly. “You know me all too well.” She said, and Hermione shook her head. “If Blaise’s mother really did kill all of those men, than it’s not exactly something that you want to get mixed up in. If you find out something that you’re not supposed to, she would probably have no trouble killing you as well.”

“Mione, I can’t promise that I won’t dig into it eventually, but I can promise that I’ll be smart about it and do it in a way that I won’t be getting caught.”

Hermioen knew that was the best that she could probably get in the situation so she just nodded her head. “Alright.” She relented, and Penny smiled at her. Penny wouldn’t be looking into this until she was a bit older and knew a bit of defensive magic in case she did have to go up against Blaise’s mother; the woman was well versed in the dark arts and Penny wanted some way of being able to protect herself if need be. “Alright, now let’s actually try to get some studying done.”

  
  
  


“That was absolute torture.” Ron groaned as they all walked out of the Charms classroom, having just finished with their test. “I would never have passed without you Hermione, you’re a bloody lifesaver.”

Hermione blushed brightly. “All I did was try to explain things in a way that you would understand, you actually did all of the work Ronald.”

“I swear that those two are going to be getting together someday.” Penny whispered to Harry, who laughed under his breath. “I wouldn’t doubt it. They go at each other like cats and dogs, but you can tell that there’s a definite chemistry between them.” He nudged her playfully as they walked, leaving Hermione and Ron trailing behind them. “What about you, any special guy, or girl if you’re into that kind of thing, that’s caught your eye?”

Penny shook her head. “No way, I’m not even going to think about getting into a relationship with anyone until I’m older, probably not until I’m fourteen at the very least. And you should consider doing the same exact thing.”

“Don’t worry, I’m not planning on dating anyone for a long while.” Harry quickly reassured her. “Plus every girl would only want to date me because I’m famous.”

Harry wasn’t trying to brag, he was only saying what he thought to be the truth, and he was right, sad as it was. When he got older, girls would only want to date him because of his looks or because he was the Boy Who Lived.

Penny patted him on the shoulder. “The right girl will come along.” She reassured him. “You’ll just have to give it some time. But that’s enough talk about romances, let’s talk about something that won’t have the possibility of making me gag.”

“Did Fred and George tell you about the prank that they’re planning on pulling on Draco and his friends?”

Penny shook her head, sighing sadly. “They won’t breathe a word about it, probably because I’m either going to be one of the victims of the prank or because they think that I’m going to warn Draco about it.”

“And would you warn Draco about it?”

Penny blushed a bit. “I wish that I could say no, but I would probably feel bad and cave.”

Since it was near lunchtime, they entered the Great Hall to grab some food, and Penny waved to her Gryffindor friends before sitting at the Slytherin table.

“You seem to be getting really close with Potter and Company.” Theodore Nott said to Penny as she sat down.

“Yes? And what of it?” Penny asked as she filled her bowl with the beef stew that they were having for lunch before grabbing a warm roll, buttering it before biting into it.

“Everyone knows that Potter has different values than all of the other Purebloods-”

“No Theo, he has different values than  _ you _ .” Penny snapped, and the table looked at her in surprise. “And frankly, so do I. I think that the whole bloody purity thing is bloody stupid.”

“You’re just like the Weaslebees then.” Marcus Flint sneered at her. Draco had remained noticeably silent during all of this, and Flint called him out on it. “Draco, what do you think should be done with blood traitors like this?”

“Can’t I just eat my lunch in peace?” Draco said in a bored tone, rolling his eyes. “Besides, if she is a blood traitor than there’s nothing that we can really do about it is there? Her father’s already shunned her.”

“As he should.” Marcus said, and Penny clutched her goblet tightly as she took a sip. The liquid tasted weird, and she frowned, licking her lips. Draco happened to look at her at that moment, and his eyes widened a bit. “Um, Montgomery, you have a little….” He pointed at her backside, and Penny glanced over her shoulder to see what he was pointing at. A long, spotted tail that resembled a giraffe’s tail was growing out of her rear end, and Penny cried out in alarm. So this was the prank that the Weasley twins had been planning on pulling. She found herself laughing as she looked at Draco. “You’ve got a little something there.” Penny said in between laughing. Draco, like her, had a tail, but his resembled a ferret’s or weasel’s.

Every Slytherin that had taken a drink out of their goblets had the tail of a certain creature. Blaise had the tail of a jaguar, Crabbe had the tail of a bulldog.

“Who did this?!” Marcus snarled as he sprang to his feet, nearly tripping. He had the tail of a peacock, meaning that he had the long, colorful tail feathers to go with it. He nearly knocked over several students as he tried to find the culprit.

McGonagall was trying futily to regain order, as by now the entire Great Hall, with the exception of some of the affected Slytherins. Penny was laughing with the others. She could appreciate a good joke after all, but it would seem that some people couldn’t take a joke as well as she could.

Draco had stood up, complaining and saying something about how his father would hear about this.

“The ferret tail looks good on you Malfoy!” Seamus Finnegan called out as Draco stormed out of the Great Hall, his face beet red with anger. Penny glanced at Fred and George, and they both winked at her, letting her know that they were the culprits. Penny wouldn’t have been surprised if Derek had had a role to play in it. Derek however, was much better about maintaining his innocent, and he had a stoic face as McGonagall tried to find the ones responsible. She gave Fred and George detention before herding all of the affected students together so that she could change them back to their normal, tail free selves.

“You know, these tails say something about your personality.” The older professor said, and Penny looked at her curiously. “What does a giraffe’s tail say?” She asked, and McGonagall gave her a warm smile. “People who associate with a giraffe are usually creative thinkers, and they are also practical. I can see the creative thinking in you Miss Montgomery, but I am trying to see the practicality, what with all the time that you spend with the Weasley twins helping them with their pranks.”

“What’s life without a little excitement Professor McGonagall?” Penny grinned at her before leaving the Great Hall, tail free. She found Draco sulking in an empty hallway. “Oh come on Draco, have a little fun once in a while.”

“That was utterly humiliating.” Draco grumbled. “I don’t see why you’re so happy about it, that tail didn’t exactly make you look good you know.”

“Oh I know, I would have much rather had Flint’s peacock feathers, I could have pulled that off much better than a giraffe tail.”

“Doesn’t it bother you how the Weasleys always seem to target us Slytherins?”

“Draco, their pranks aren’t exactly unwarranted.” Penny pointed out. “Most of the Slytherins look down on them because they’re poor and ‘blood traitors’.”

“You shouldn’t be going around saying that you don’t believe in the blood values.” Draco advised her. “Certain people won’t be too happy about that, you’re liable to get yourself killed.”

“I can handle myself just fine, but thank you for worrying about me.”

Draco’s normally pale cheeks were now a bright pink. “I never said anything about being worried about you Montgomery. Why would I be worried about you?”

“Because I’m your best friend and you don’t know what you would do without me.” Penny retorted, and Draco rolled his eyes. “I would be perfectly fine without you.”

“Oh yeah right. Want to put your money where your mouth is Malfoy? I’ll bet you three Galleons that you wouldn’t be able to last for a week without me.”

Draco was never one to back down from a bet so he readily agreed. “You’ve got yourself a deal Montgomery, I hope that you’re prepared to eat your words.”

“Oh trust me Malfoy, the only thing that I’m going to be eating is all of the licorice wands that I’m going to be buying with those Galleons that you buy me.” The two Slytherins shook hands, and the bet was on.


	9. Chapter 9

It had been a week since Penny and Draco had made their bet, and neither one was showing any signs of backing down or surrendering. 

“Remind me why the two of you made a bet again.” Hermione was walking with Penny to their Herbology class, and Penny had told her about the bet. 

“I guess just for the hell of it.” Penny said as she shrugged her shoulders. “That and we’re both too stubborn to back down from anything.”

“It’s a wonder that you weren’t sorted into Gryffindor.”

Penny laughed at that. “I’m far too ambitious to be put into Gryffindor, if Harry and Ron procrastinating about their homework is any indication of what Gryffindors are like.”

“I wish that I could say most of the Gryffindors are like me, but unfortunately that isn’t the case.” Hermione said with a begrudging sigh.

Penny laughed again as they walked outdoors and made their way towards the Herbology greenhouse. “I heard from Neville that Professor Sprout is going to be teaching us about the Devil’s Snare today.”

Hermione nodded her head. “I believe that she’s also going to teach us  _ Incedio  _ as a form of defense against it as well.”

For that lesson, Penny had been teamed up with Neville. Professor Sprout had taught them the fire charm and they had to try and use it to repel the Devil’s Snare. Penny had managed to master it on her third or fourth try, but Neville was seeming to have a hard time mastering it.

“You can do it, Neville.” Penny urged him, but Neville shook his head. “I just can’t seem to concentrate Penny.”

“Neville, you need to find a way to clear your mind. It’s like when you meditate kind of. Focus on the fire coming from your wand, visualize that in your mind. Now give it another try, alright?”

Neville nodded, and he took a deep breath as he closed his eyes. “Incendio.” He muttered, and a small flame erupted out of his wand. It wasn’t anything big, but it was most definitely a start. “If you want to Neville, we can practice out on the grounds sometimes, along with any other spells that you need some help with.”

“Thanks, Penny.” Neville’s face flooded with relief. “You aren’t like the other Slytherins, you’re actually nice and you don’t bully other people.”

“Do any of the other Slytherins give you trouble?”

“Sometimes Malfoy and those two that hang around him.”

Penny’s jaw clenched. She would have to talk to him about that, but that would mean losing the bet with him. Still, what were a few Galleons in comparison to helping a friend, right?

“Don’t worry Neville, I’ll talk to him, see if maybe I can get him to stop bullying you quite so much.”

“You’d do that? But aren’t you like best friends or something? Aren’t you afraid that he’ll get mad at you?”

“Neville, just because he’s my friend, it doesn’t mean that I’m going to let him push you around like this.” Penny patted him on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of this.”

As soon as class was over, Penny strode up to the pale, blonde boy. “You mind telling me why you think that it’s necessary that you be mean to Neville.”

Draco smirked as he looked at her. “You owe me three Galleons Montgomery.”

“I don’t give a damn about the bet Draco, just answer my question.”

“What, are you protecting the cowering little Longbottom now? I thought that you were a Slytherin, not a Gryffindor.”

“Oh Draco, will you just bloody grow up already?!” Penny cried out in exasperation. “You aren’t five, so this whole business of making fun of others for the littlest things is really starting to get old. I could make fun of you for a lot of things, but I don’t.”

Draco rolled his eyes. “Oh please, you wouldn’t dare.”

“Oh really? I think that you’re pathetic Malfoy, you go running to your daddy whenever you don’t get your way, you’re so pale that when we were seven I secretly thought that you were a vampire and I looked around your bedroom for a coffin. You have the personality of a vampire too, incredibly dull. Although that could just be your smarts coming into play.”

Draco was no longer pale. Oh no, his face was so red that he resembled a tomato more than he did a vampire. “Oh really? Well, I have some things to say to you as well Montgomery. I think that you’re incredibly plain looking. Did you know that our parents were planning for us to get married once we became of age? Well, you want to know something? I wouldn’t marry you if you were the last girl on earth. You’re stupid too. I know how you’re failing in Potions, it’s probably because you’re always hanging out with those Weasleys. And one more thing…” He walked closer to Penny, who was staring at him in shock. “I never  _ really _ wanted to be friends with you, the only reason that I hung out with you was because my mother forced me to. I always thought that you were duller than a rock.”

Draco took a couple of steps back, and Penny had to blink back tears. “Fine then.” She hissed at him. “If I’m so dull then I won’t be taking up any more of your time.” Penny turned on her heel and had started to storm off when Draco had called after her. She paused, thinking that maybe he was going to apologize to her, say that he had let his anger get the better of him or something along those lines. But all that he said was ‘you still owe me three Galleons Montgomery.”

Penny growled before shoving her hand into her pocket, taking out the right amount of money before throwing it at him. “Not like you already have more money than you know what to do with, you bloody prick.” She ran into the castle, Draco’s laughter echoing in her ears. 

“I can’t believe that bloody ass!” Fred was angrily storming around the common room, Penny having told them everything. Hermione was trying to soothe Penny, running her hand through her hair.

“You can bet that he’s going to pay.” George added. “You aren’t dull Penny, you’re an incredibly brilliant pranking partner.”

“Did you really call him a vampire?” Derek was there as well, and Penny nodded her head, smiling a little bit. “It’s true, when I was seven years old, I was convinced that he was a vampire because he was always so pale, even in the summertime. Imagine my disappointment when I found out that he was in fact, just a normal human being.”

“He’s going to pay for what he did.” Fred cracked his knuckles. “No one hurts our girl like that.” 

Penny had been sobbing in Hermione’s arms when the twins and Derek had entered. Needless to say, when they learned about what had happened and about what an ass Draco had been to their favorite Slytherin, they started cooking up ways of making him pay for hurting her.

“We could put something in his hair gel.” Derek suggested. “I know a potion that causes hair loss, he wouldn’t be so cocky once all of that perfect hair of his is gone.”

“Whatever you do, don’t get caught.” Hermione said to them, and Fred grinned at her. “Why Granger, are you actually condoning a prank of ours?”

“If you tell anybody, I’ll vehemently deny it, but give him hell.”

Fred looked at Penny. “Do you think that you would be able to sneak into the boys’ dormitory?”

Penny nodded her head. “Yeah, it shouldn’t be all that hard.” She answered, and Fred smirked. “Excellent. We’ll have Derek make the potion, and you need to put some of it in his hair gel.”

“The potion will be clear colored so he shouldn’t get suspicious.” Derek added. “But we may have to provide a distraction while you do it.”

“I could do it during History of Magic.” Penny mused. “I doubt that Professor Binns would notice one less student in his class. Besides, I can’t imagine that it would take that long to put the potion in the gel.”

  
  


One week later they put the plan into action. Derek had given Penny the potion, and she was going to sneak into the dorms. If anyone questioned where Penny was, then Hermione was going to tell them that Penny was feeling ill. 

Penny had no trouble at all getting into the boys’ dorm, there weren’t any kinds of wards like there were on the girls’ dorms. She dug around in his trunk until she found the bottle of expensive hair and she unscrewed the top, going into the bathroom and squeezing some out of the bottle to make room for the potion. She had just finished when she heard someone talking right outside of the dorm. Quickly she dashed back into the bedroom, throwing the hair gel into the trunk and closing the trunk before diving under the bed. She made it just as the door opened, and Draco walked in, along with Crabbe and Goyle.

“Honestly, I don’t know why we even need History of Magic.” Draco complained, and Penny watched him from underneath the bed. He disappeared into the bathroom, and Penny could hear him squeezing some of the gel onto his hand.

“I didn’t know that they could even employ a ghost.” Draco continued on. “I mean, how do they even pay him? It’s not like he would have any use for money, he’s dead.”

Draco was still complaining about the class as the three boys left, and Penny waited a good five minutes before climbing out from underneath the bed, heaving a deep sigh. That was way too close. But her troubles weren’t over yet. The door opened yet again, and Penny found herself staring into the eyes of Blaise Zabini.


	10. Chapter 10

“Last I checked, this wasn’t the girls’ dorm.” Blaise said, looking at Anna with a raised eyebrow. “Lost are we, Montgomery? Or were you hoping of trying to reconcile with Malfoy? Good luck with that, seeing as how he’s told everyone that he doesn’t want anything to do with you.”

“I’m not trying to reconcile with him.” Penny said heatedly. “I don’t want anything to do with him, not with the way that he’s treated me.”

“Then what are you doing here?” His tone wasn’t an unkind one. “You shouldn’t be here Penny, he’s going to be coming back at any time.”

“Relax, I’m leaving, I just had to add a little something to his hair gel. You won’t tell him about it, will you?”

“Considering that he’s been a prick to you, no.” Blaise considered Penny to be a good friend of his, and he had been trying really hard to not hex Draco every time that he saw him. “But seriously, you need to get going. I’ll see you at dinner.”

Penny nodded and she scurried out of the room.

“Well?” Fred asked, he had been waiting outside for her, and Penny gave him a grin. “It all went smoothly, Blaise caught me in the dorm, but he said that he wasn’t going to tell. Honestly, I think that he’s going to be enjoying it just as much as we are.”

“I always knew that I liked that bloke. Now, the potion takes about twelve hours before it starts to work, so we probably won’t be seeing any results until tomorrow. You should try and get some rest.”

“But that means that I’ll have to go back into my dorm, and going into my dorm means that I’ll have to listen to Pansy going on and on about how perfect Draco is and how she’s going to marry him someday.”

Fred laughed at that. “Guess you’ll have to sleep on one of your common room couches then.”

“That would probably be preferable.” Penny said, shaking her head. “I’ll do anything if it means that I don’t have to hear that droning voice of hers. How Daphne stands her, I’ll never understand.”

That night, Penny did indeed spend on the common room couch. Blaise woke her up the next morning. “Mind telling me why you decided to spend the night out here instead of in your own dorm?”

“Because I didn’t want to listen to bloody Pansy.” Penny winced as she sat up, the couch definitely hadn’t been good on her back, and she cracked it before looking up at Blaise. “What time is it?”

“About six in the morning. No one else is up yet.”

“Then why in Salazar’s name are you?”

“I’m an early riser.” Blaise said, shrugging his shoulders, but Penny could tell that something else was going on. “Blaise, what’s bothering you?”

Blaise sighed and he sat down beside Penny on the couch. “My mum is pregnant.” He told her. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy about having a sibling, but I can’t help but feel like I’m being replaced. And now her husband recently got really sick. It’s weird, the healers said that it just came out of nowhere.”

Penny gently slipped her hand into his. “Blaise, feeling like you’re being replaced, I think that it’s a normal thing to feel when a new sibling enters your life.” She said, speaking slowly. “And as for your stepfather falling ill, well, you and I both have our suspicions on that.”As much as she hated to think about it, all of the men that Blaise’s mother had married had all died under mysterious circumstances, and she had always been the one to inherit their fortunes.

Blaise stared into the fireplace for a moment. “I talked to my mother about it once, right before school started. She didn’t even deny doing anything, she just gave me this look, like she was threatening me if I ever said anything to anybody.”

If she was cold enough to murder all of those men, Penny knew that Blaise’s mother would kill him as well if he ever said anything to anybody. And yet, Blaise still seemed to love his mother. Penny could understand where he was coming from completely. Her mother could be a ruthless serial killer, and Penny would still love her because that was just how things worked. Children loved their parents, and they didn’t want to think that their parents could ever do anything wrong, and when the parents screwed up or did something that was inherently evil, it left the children feeling crushed and confused. 

“What are you doing for Christmas?” Penny asked, thinking that it might be a good idea to change the subject. “Are you going home?”

Blaise shook his head.”No, my mother is going to be spending the holiday with her sister, and her sister is bloody awful, she pinches my cheeks and always talks to me like I’m a baby. I told my mother that I have a lot of schoolwork to catch up on, so I’ll be spending the holiday here at Hogwarts.”

“So am I, I’m going to be hanging out with Harry and Ron for the holiday, I’m sure that they wouldn’t mind if you tagged along.”

“You sure that they wouldn’t mind hanging out with a Slytherin?” Blaise teased her, and Penny rolled her eyes. “Ron might have a problem with it at first, but I’m sure that I can talk him into it. Come on Blaise, you’ll have a lot of fun, I promise. Look, I’ll talk to them about it and make sure that they’re okay with it, but I’m sure that they aren’t going to be having any problems with it. This is going to be the best Christmas ever, I promise.”

  
  


As Penny had predicted, Ron was a bit hesitant about Blaise hanging out with them. “Are you sure that he can be trusted?”

“Ron, he’s like my best friend in Slytherin. He’s a good guy, I promise.”

Hermione was walking with them, and she nodded her head in agreement. “I was paired up with Blaise in Potions class once, he was nice to me and didn’t call me any names or anything, he isn’t nearly as bad as Malfoy.”

“Come on, Ron.” Penny pleaded with him. “He’s going to be spending Christmas all alone, and no one deserves to be alone on Christmas.”

Ron looked at Harry, who shrugged his shoulders. “If Penny trusts him, then I think he’ll be alright.”

“She also trusted Malfoy.” Ron pointed out, and Penny shook her head. “That was the worst mistake of my life, and it isn’t going to be a mistake that I’ll be making again, that I can promise you.”

“Oh come on Ron, what’s the worst that could possibly happen?” Harry said to him. “It’s not like he’s going to kill us or anything like that.”

“It wouldn’t bloody surprise me.” The redhead muttered darkly, and Hermione rolled her eyes. “Honestly Ronald, he’s only eleven years old, it’s not like he would know any dark hexes or curses.”

“Please?” Penny looked at Ron with wide eyes, grinning to herself as her friend groaned. “Fine! Bloody hell what is that look? It’s like you could ask me to rob Gringotts, basically a suicide mission mind you, and I wouldn’t be able to tell you no.”

Penny laughed as she exchanged a high five with Hermione. “It’s a talent that only girls have.” She giggled, and Ron huffed. “I guess that Zabini is spending Christmas with us Weasleys then.” 

Harry patted Ron on the shoulder. “Oh come on, it won’t be that bad.”

“If he kills us all in our sleep then I’m holding you lot personally responsible.”


	11. Chapter 11

Christmas came around, and Penny and Blaise spent Christmas Eve with Harry and the others in the Gryffindor common room. Fred and George had gotten food from the kitchens, so they all sat in front of the fireplace, eating glazed ham, garlic green beans, cheesy potatoes, and warm, buttered rolls, along with butterbeer for everyone.

"What are you hoping to get for Christmas Penny?" Harry asked her, and the pale girl shrugged her shoulders. "Honestly, I'm probably not going to be getting anything this year. According to my father, blood traitors don't deserve Christmas presents."

Ron frowned at that. "But everyone should get presents on Christmas. Except for Malfoy, he probably has everything that he wants anyways."

The subject of Draco was still a bit of a sore one for Penny, although she tried not to show it. Every time that she saw the blonde in the hallways or in the Slytherin common room, his last words to her echoed in her ears. Although seeing him bald in the days leading up to the Christmas break had been extremely satisfying.

After they had finished eating, Penny curled up on one of the couches, watching Draco and Blaise play a few rounds of wizarding chess, and she laughed softly as Ron creamed Blaise every single time. Blaise clearly wasn't used to losing, but he took it like a pro, shaking Ron's hand when they had finished. "It's not often that I find someone that can match me in chess skill, Weasley. You'll have to show me some of your tricks sometime, you're bloody talented at chess."

Ron's face flushed at the compliment. "My brother Percy taught me a lot of what I know, maybe he can give you some tips as well."

"Where is Percy anyway?" Harry asked, and the twins snickered. "He's spending Christmas Eve with Penelope Clearwater." George said with a smirk on his face. "He's head over heels for her, I can't understand why though, boring as she is."

"They're two peas in a pod." Fred added, with a smirk identical to the one that George wore. "They started dating last year, it was bloody awful hearing him go on and on about her all day, every day. Although I suppose that it was better than him nagging at us to get our summer homework done, Merlin knows that we had Mum getting on us enough about that."

"You should hear Hermione go on." Ron piped up. "Even if the homework isn't due for weeks, she tries to have us get it done that night."

"In her defense, you guys always wait until the last minute." Penny pointed out, causing Harry to laugh and Ron to blush darkly. "She has a point, Ron, we do tend to procrastinate when it comes to our homework."

"It's not our fault, they always give us so bloody much of it." Ron complained. "Especially Snape."

"You know, if you actually paid attention in class, and made notes of things, the work would be a lot easier." Penny teased him. "You can't always count on Hermione for everything, after all. Some stuff you need to just man up and do it yourself.

"Like that'll ever happen." Fred said with a scoff. "He doesn't even have the guts to talk to his crush."

"I don't  _ have  _ a crush!" Ron exclaimed, although the look that was on his face said otherwise.

"Oh, leave him alone." Penny giggled. "We're too young to be dating anyway."

George slung his arm over her shoulder. "Oh come on, Pen. Surely there's some bloke that's lucky enough to have caught your eye. Or girl, if you're into that kind of thing, I'm definitely not judging."

"There isn't anyone, not that you need to know." Penny retorted, pushing his arm off of her. "I'm just trying to get through my first year, having a significant other is the farthest thing from my mind."

  
  
  


As it turned out, Penny  _ did  _ have presents the next morning. She hadn't gotten anything from her parents, but Hermione had sent Penny a scrapbooking kit, and Harry had given her a charm bracelet.

"Us Weasleys all pooled together to get you something." Fred told her. "But you need to close your eyes."

Penny did so, and she felt something being placed in her lap. Upon hearing a meow, her eyes snapped open, and she saw a grey and white kitten sitting in her lap, looking up at her with wide green eyes.

"Oh my Salazar." Penny gasped, and George chuckled softly. "Fred and I were in Hogsmeade. Madame Rosmerta, she's the landlord of The Three Broomsticks, she had a cat that had just given birth. We got her for a really good price, because I guess that Madame Rosmerta couldn't have a bunch of cats running around the place, something about breaking a bunch of sanitary codes. We also got her food and litter and everything that she needs, the only thing that you need to do is give her a name."

"I don't know what to say..." Penny stared down at the little kitten that had curled up in her lap to take a nap. "This is really too much..."

"Don't worry about it." Fred added. "We know that you have an owl, but we thought that you should have a pet that can stay with you. Even Percy chipped in, guess that he isn't all that bad after all."

"What are you going to name her?" Harry asked, and Penny thought for a moment. "I don't really know." She admitted. "I don't want to just give her any old name."

"She's pretty smart." George told her. "She managed to get out of our dorm, we found her snuggling with Harry."

Penny looked down at the kitten once more. "Rowena." She finally decided. "I'm going to name her Rowena."

  
  


A couple of days later, the students came back to Hogwarts, and Daphne fell in love with Rowena. "She's such a darling." She gushed, causing Pansy to roll her eyes. "I'm surprised that the blood traitors were even able to afford to get you anything, I suppose that a ratty little thing like that was the best that they could afford."

"You're just jealous." Daphne retorted, running her fingers along Rowena's back, which the feline seemed to love. "Your parents won't get you a pet because they know that you're too bloody lazy to take care of one."

Pansy scoffed before climbing into her bed and closing the curtains. Daphne giggled softly. "it's hilarious when Pansy gets jealous, she practically goes green. What I said about her parents not letting her have a pet because she's lazy is true, she doesn't do anything unless she absolutely has to, I'm surprised that she's passing her classes."

"It's probably because her little Dracey-poo is helping her." Penny said with an eye-roll. "Although other than Potions, I don't think that there's much else that he's good in."

Daphne snorted at that. "Wouldn't surprise me if she bribed the teachers. Although I don't think that McGonagall and Flitwick would be all that easy to bribe. She probably tried to though."

"With the things that she does, it definitely wouldn't surprise me."

Even though the girls were speaking in hushed voices, Pansy was still listening to every word that they were saying, and it hurt. She didn't say a single word, but tears slid down the Parkinson girl's cheeks before she said a silencing spell so that she wouldn't have to hear any more of what they were saying about her.


	12. Chapter 12

Penny was surprised to find Pansy sullen and silent the next morning. Granted, Pansy was usually sullen towards Penny, but she was never silent, there was always some kind of smartass comment about Penny leaving the other girl's mouth. Penny wondered if the Parkinson girl had overheard the conversation that Penny had been having with Daphne the night before, and Penny felt the tiniest bit of guilt stabbing her in the heart. Penny didn't usually talk like that about people, but with Pansy, she had seemed to not be able to help herself. Maybe it had something to do with Draco, Penny didn't know, but what she did know was that she was going to apologize to Pansy as soon as possible.

But Pansy didn't want anything to do with her, she tried to avoid Penny and Daphne as much as she possibly could.

"I thought that you would like her not talking to us." Daphne said as the two girls ate breakfast. "I know that I like it, I don't have to hear her annoying voice, it's downright heavenly."

"We shouldn't have been talking about her like that." Penny said as she shook her head. "It wasn't right, we're as bad as her, you know that she would say something like that to someone else, especially a Muggle-Born, in a heartbeat. We shouldn't have stooped that low."

Derek advised Penny to not worry about it too much. "Parkinson just doesn't like that she got a taste of her own medicine, she probably wasn't expecting someone that was in her house to talk about her like that. Sometimes learning the truth about yourself is exactly what a person needs to change."

"Well, Parkinson hasn't done any changing so far." Fred and George approached the two. "She just sent Susan Bones running away crying."

Penny sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "She and Malfoy are like two peas in a pod."

"So it's Malfoy now?" George teased her. "No more Draco?"

"He lost that privilege when he hurt me the way that he did. Now where did Susan run off to? I'll see if I can calm her down a little bit."

"She ran off in the direction of Myrtle's bathroom."

It seemed that when most girls had been hurt by someone, Myrtle's bathroom was where they went for solitude. Although in Hermione's case, when she had gone on Halloween, a troll had almost killed her. Thankfully nothing like that had happened since, and Myrtle's bathroom was now relatively safe.

  
  


"Susan?" Penny knocked gently on the door of the bathroom before entering. "Is it alright if I come inside?" Penny hadn't really talked to Susan all that much, but she seemed like a pretty nice girl, and she certainly didn't deserve whatever it was that Pansy had said to her.

There was a sniffle before Susan answered. "O-Okay." She said in a shaky voice, and Penny quickly made her way inside. "Fred and George told me that Pansy was bullying you. Whatever it was that she said to you, you need to just ignore it, alright? She doesn't know what she's talking about."

"S-She said that I was stupid and that I didn't know anything."

Penny grabbed a tissue and wiped away the tears that were falling down the Hufflepuff's cheeks. "Susan, I'm sure that's not true-"

"I'm failing in everything except for Herbology!" Susan wailed. "Herbology is the only class that I'm any good in. I just...I can't understand any of it."

"You just haven't had the right teacher." Penny told her. "Why don't I help you? I'm sure that with some time, you'll be able to catch up and you won't be failing anymore. Maybe Hermione can help as well."

"You'd do that for me?" Susan asked, and Penny nodded her head. "Of course. Just because I'm a Slytherin, it doesn't mean that I'm a bully, or that I don't care about anyone but myself. Unfortunately, my house is filled with people like Pansy, which makes it hard for people like me to get rid of the stereotypes that people have put on us. Come on, why don't we get started? We can go to the library and study for a little bit."

Susan nodded, and the two girls left the bathroom, making their way towards the library.

"Aw, has the little baby finally stopped crying?" Pansy stopped them, Millicent standing right next to her. Penny rolled her eyes. "If you're here to bully Susan some more, then you can just run along Parkinson, because I won't stand for it."

"You're certainly one to talk."

"Is this seriously about last night when Daphne and I were talking? You need to grow up Pansy. I was going to apologize to you, but now you're seriously making me reconsider my decision. Now get out of the way before I hex you."

Pansy scoffed, but she stepped back a bit once Penny withdrew her wand from her robe pocket. "You better watch your back Montgomery, I'll get you yet, you just wait and see." Pansy walked away, Millicent right on her heels.

Penny shook her head as she turned to Susan. "See? You can't let people like Pansy bully you, as soon as you show that you aren't intimidated by them, they'll be too scared to do anything else and they'll leave you alone."

"I wish that I could be as brave as you." Susan said wistfully, and Penny wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "Just remember, people like Pansy bully other people because they're jealous of them."

"What could Pansy have to be jealous of?"

"Susan, you're a smart girl. You may not feel like it, but I know that you have the potential to be at the top of your class, you just need the right person to help you along. You're also pretty, much prettier than Pansy could ever hope of being."

Susan blushed. "You think that I'm pretty?"

"I think that anyone who doesn't see how pretty you are must be blind." Penny walked with Susan into the library, thankful that no one else had tried to stop them. The two girls got out their books, and Penny started to help Susan with her look. There was a lot that the Hufflepuff didn't understand, but Penny was determined to help her. The progress was slow, but Susan eventually began to make some progress. They had to stop for dinner, but Penny promised that they could study more that upcoming weekend.

"I can't thank you enough Penny." Susan said as they left the library. "I think that I might have a chance now."

"There's a lot of work yet to be done." Penny warned her. "You have a lot of catching up to do, but I'm sure that if you work hard enough at it, then your grades will come back up."

Susan nodded her head. "I can't thank you enough for your help."

"Don't mention it. I better go, see you later." Penny waved to Susan before leaving the library. Suddenly she was grabbed and shoved against a wall, and she found herself staring into the steely grey eyes of Draco Malfoy.


	13. Chapter 13

“What the hell, Malfoy?” Penny demanded as she shoved Draco away from her, glaring at him. “You mind telling me exactly why you shoved me against a wall?”

“Because I felt like it, obviously.”

Penny rolled her eyes at the entitled tone in his voice. “Well I hate to break it to you, but you can’t just go around shoving people just because you feel like it. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be on my way.”

“Wait, I want to talk to you about something.”

“Really? Because last I recall, you didn’t want anything to do with me. I believe that your exact words to me were ‘I thought that you were duller then a rock’. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be on my way.”

“You’re not going anywhere until I-”

“Oi Malfoy, why don’t you just get on your way?” Fred and George walked up to them. “Penny has already told you that she doesn’t want to talk to you, so why don’t you just respect her wishes and leave? I know that it sucks to not be wanted, but trust me, you’ll get used to it.”

Draco was about to retort when George cut him off. “If you’re about to use the ‘I’ll tell my father about this’ shit that you always use, I’ll stop you right now. We don’t give a damn about your father, there’s nothing that he can do to us. Now just run along, I’m sure that Parkinson is looking for you.”

Draco growled and stormed away, and Penny gave the twins a grateful look. “Thanks for that.”

“No problem.” George assured her. “What was that all about anyway?”

“I honestly have no idea. I had been in the library tutoring Susan Bones, and he grabbed me when I was coming out.” She shook her head. “It doesn’t matter what he wanted to talk to me about anyway, I don’t want to talk to him ever again.”

“A wise idea, Montgomery.” Fred wrapped an arm around her shoulder. “Stick with us, we’ll be a much better influence on you.”

“Well, I’m not so sure about that.” Penny teased them. “But the sentiment is appreciated.”

“I’ll have you know that we’re perfect angels.” George said with a bit of a pout, causing Penny to laugh. “Yeah, I’m sure that your mother would agree with you on that.”

  
  
  


Just like that, winter started to turn into spring, and Penny couldn’t believe that in a matter of a couple of months, her first year at Hogwarts would be over with. She had been working with Susan almost non-stop, and she was pleased to learn that in most of her classes, Susan was passing with an Exceeds Expectations.

“I’m really proud of you.” The two girls were sitting in the courtyard since it was a nice day out, and Daphne was with them. Penny had introduced the two girls, and they had hit it off almost right away, much to Penny’s pleasure. Daphne had been helping Susan with classes too, when Penny was unable to.

Rowena was currently curled up in a ball in Penny’s lap, soaking in the springtime sun, and Penny smiled as she gently stroked the cat’s back. With everything that was going on with her parents, Penny didn’t think that it would be a good idea to bring Rowena home with her, and Ron had graciously offered to let her stay the summer at the Burrow. Penny wouldn’t like being separated from her cat, but she thought that it was for the best.

“What are your plans for the summer?” Susan asked Daphne, who shrugged her shoulders. “My mother has an aunt in Romania that we might go and visit. What about you Penny? What are you going to be doing this summer?”

“Something tells me that I’ll be spending a lot of it in my room.” Penny responded, biting her lip. “My parents still aren’t very happy with me.”

The other two girls exchanged sympathetic looks.

“I’m sorry Penny.” Susan told her. “I wish that there was some way that we could help you.”

“I’ll be fine, don’t worry. I’ll be punished probably, but I don’t think that it’ll be too bad. It’s not like they’ll hurt me or anything like that.”

Oh, if Penny only knew how wrong she would be. But for now she was oblivious to just how horrible her summer would turn out to be, and the next few summers after that.

  
  


Finally, it was the end of the term, and Penny was pleased to learn that she had passed all of her classes. There was quite a hubbub too, she was shocked to learn that Harry had faced off against Voldemort and that he was currently laid up in the hospital wing. She was assured by Hermione that he would be alright, but Penny was still troubled, because this meant that you-know-who had returned, and that he wasn’t, in fact, dead. She knew that the Malfoys would be pleased about it, she could only imagine the things that Draco would be saying after this, he would be ten times more insufferable than he already was.

“I’m sure that things will be fine Penny.” Hermione tried to reassure Penny as they walked to the Great Hall for the end of the year feast. “Harry’s fine, he’s going to make a full recovery, DUmbledore has already assured us of that.”

“It’s not Harry that I’m worried about, Mione, it’s the fact that you-know-who isn’t actually dead. This isn’t good for anyone.”

“He’s still very weak, he won’t be able to do anything just yet, it’ll probably be years before he’ll be any real threat. Now come on, we shouldn’t be worrying about that now, we should be celebrating the fact that we’ve made it through our first year at Hogwarts.”

They parted ways when they entered the Great Hall, Penny going to sit with her fellow Slytherins. The Hall was decorated in Slytherin colors, since Slytherin had won the house cup that year.

But it would seem that Dumbledore really wanted Gryffindor to win that year. He awarded Harry, Hermione, Ron and Neville all points, and it was enough to put Gryffindor over the edge and beat Slytherin. All of the Slytherins were disappointed, Penny included. She thought that it was unfair, Dumbledore had given them just enough points to win, and she felt like they had been cheated out of the house cup.

“My father is going to hear about this.” She heard Draco complain, and she turned away from him, instead talking with Daphne. They would all be leaving to go home the next day, and Penny definitely wasn’t looking forward to her summer. She had no clue what was going to be in store for her that summer, but she hoped that it wouldn’t be too bad. She couldn’t have been more wrong about that, though.


	14. Chapter 14

Penny's father was waiting for her when Penny got off of the Hogwarts Express, and he looked none too happy. Daphne gave Penny a sympathetic look before going towards her own parents, and Penny also saw Hermione watching, a frown on the brunette's face. 

Penny inhaled deeply before walking over to Walter Montgomery, who was looking at her like she was the dirt on the bottom of his shoe that he would like nothing more than to scrape off. "Father."

"Penny." His voice was cold and sharp, which made Penny flinch a little bit. "Come. Your mother has dinner waiting at home."

When they got home Walter sent Penny right to her room, not even giving her time to say hello to her mother, who actually looked happy to see Penny.

"But what about dinner?" Penny was starving, the only thing that she'd eaten on the train was a few licorice wands and a chocolate frog. 

"Girls who are a disgrace to their families do not get rewarded." Walter stated. Deanna looked like she wanted to say something, but she knew better so she held her tongue. "Go straight to your room. If I am in a good mood later, then perhaps I shall have one of the house-elves bring you something."

It went on like this for most of the summer. Walter was hoping that the way he was treating Penny would make her change her ways. Well, he couldn't be more wrong about that. If anything, it only set Penny in her ways even more. If this was his way of trying to get her to stop being friends with Hermione and other Muggle-borns, it wasn't going to work. So what if they were Muggle-Born? That didn't make a lick of difference to her, and she most definitely wasn't going to let anyone control who she could or couldn't be friends with. When Walter saw that his methods weren't working, he decided that more drastic measures had to be taken.

"Walter, you can't!" Deanna tried to plead with her husband. "She is still just a child, she'll learn!"

"We have no choice, Deanna." The truth was, treating his daughter this way hurt Walter, but he didn't think that they had a choice in the matter. "There is no telling when the Dark Lord will rise to power again. When he does, if he sees that we have a blood traitor for a daughter, then he will kill us all."

"But surely there has to be another way to get her to see! This...this is cruel, it's torture!"

"It's the only way, Deanna. Now, go and get Penny, have her meet me in the study. But you stay out in the hall, I don't want you to have to see any of this, you understand?"

Penny had been in her room, getting some of her summer homework done when her mother entered. "Your father wishes to speak with you in the study."

Penny looked up in alarm. Her mother sounded like she was about to burst into tears. "Mother, what's wrong?"

"I'm fine. But you shouldn't keep your father waiting, you know that he hasn't been the most patient man as of late."

Penny knew that all too well, so she marked her place in her textbook before closing it and stood up, following her mother down the stairs and towards the study door. Right before she opened it, her mother kissed her on the head. "Just remember...your father loves you, even though he may not be showing it."

Puzzled by her mother's words, Penny merely nodded her head before walking into the study. "You wished to see me, father?"

"Close the door and take a seat Penny."

Dread filled Penny's heart, and she did as he requested, shutting the door quietly before sitting on a chair, folding her hands in her lap.

"You are still writing to your Mudblood and blood traitor friends, despite all of my attempts to get you to stop."

"They're my friends, I'm not just going to stop talking to them because of their blood status." Penny retorted, and a small smile crossed over Walter's face before disappearing a second later. "You are stubborn, I'm afraid that you got that from me. How I wish that you hadn't. I might not have to do this otherwise."

"What do you mean father?" What was he going to do? And why did he seem to be so regretful about doing it? Penny's eyes widened as she saw her father pull out his wand and point it at her.

" _Crucio_!" Penny barely registered the word leaving her father's lips because a moment later, extreme pain went throughout her entire body. It felt like she was being stabbed by dozens of sharp knives, and Penny screamed in pain, falling out of the chair and collapsing onto the floor, her small frame writhing around in agony.

Walter said the dark curse two more times before finally stopping. Tears cascaded down Penny's cheeks as the pain started to subside, leaving her with a dull ache in her body.

"You forced my hand Penny. Maybe now you've learned your lesson." Walter left the room and a few moments later, one of the house-elves, Hector, walked in, helping Penny to sit up. "Master Montgomery has told Hector to help you to your room, Miss Penny." He helped her to stand up, and they began the slow walk to her room. When they finally reached it, Penny fell onto her bed, wanting nothing more than to just go to sleep and to never wake up again. She knew that her father had been angry at her, but she had never thought that he would go so far as to use such a powerful and dark curse against her like that. Her mother said that he loved her, but what kind of father would abuse the child that he supposedly loved in such a manner?

One thing Penny knew was that she couldn't remain here, who knew what he might do the next time. But where could she go? She couldn't go to Daphne's, her parents would tell on her for sure, and then she would just wind up right back here. She thought of the Weasleys, but she didn't want to impose on them. She couldn't think of anyone else though. Hermione was on vacation with her parents, in France or somewhere like that. "Hector, I need you to help me write a letter."


	15. Chapter 15

"Fred! George!" Molly called up the stairs of the Weasley family home. "An owl just arrived for you! It's from that Penny girl that you've been telling me about."

Two identical sets of red hair appeared from somewhere on the humongous staircase. "Penny?" George asked.

"It's been ages since we've heard from her." Fred added, and the two boys bounded down the stairs, George snatching the letter out of his mother's hands and ripping it open. The twins' eyes scanned the letter, and both boys frowned deeply.

"Is everything alright?" Molly asked them in concern, and Fred shook his head. "No, it doesn't sound like it. It sounds like things have been really bad for Penny at home." He continued to read the letter, and his face started to flush red with anger. "I can't bloody believe this! He's using the Cruciatus Curse on her!"

"Oh Fred, surely it isn't that bad-"

"Read it for yourself, Mum." Fred handed his mother the letter, and the woman quickly read it, her hand covering her mouth in shock. "Oh...oh my goodness. Oh this really isn't good, is it?"

"We have to do something, Mum!" George said urgently. "We can't leave her in a place like that!" 

"Fred, George, I'm afraid that there really isn't anything that we _can_ do about it. We have no proof, for all we know, she could be lying-"

"Penny wouldn't lie about something like this!" George said heatedly, causing Molly to sigh. "Boys, I know that you care about her a lot, but without any proof other than a letter, there just isn't anything that we can do about it, I'm sorry." She handed Fred back the letter, and went into the kitchen.

George's face was set in a grim line as he crumpled up the letter. "We can't just leave her there, Freddie."

"And we aren't going to." Fred assured him. "You know how we've been talking about springing Harry because we haven't heard from him? Well, I say that on our way back, we make a little side trip and get Penny while we're at it."

The way that Penny's father treated her didn't get any better, if anything, it just started getting worse. He used the Cruciatus Curse on her at least once a day in order to try and break her of her blood traitor ways. Penny refused to give in though, and it usually resulted in her crawling back to her room with the help of Hector and passing out for the remainder of the day. Penny wasn't sure how much longer she would be able to go on like this, it would still be a few weeks until school started, and she honestly didn't know if she would be able to hold out until then. She had no idea if her letter had gotten to the Weasleys or not, but the only thing that she could do right now was hope it did and that they were trying to do something about it. 

Then one night, she was shaken awake by her mother. "Hurry up and pack your things into your trunk." Deanna whispered to her daughter. "Be quick about it now, but be quiet, the last thing that we need is for your father to wake up."

"Mother, what's going on?" Penny asked, groggily rubbing the sleep from her eyes as she sat up. Her mother looked absolutely panicked, and Penny didn't know what it was that was causing it. 

"Your friends are here, you're going to be staying with them until school starts back up." Deanna explained as she started to throw clothes into Penny's trunk. "The Weasleys are outside waiting for you. Hurry now, get dressed."

Penny did as her mother said, even though she was confused as hell. The Weasleys were there, waiting outside? They must have gotten her letter then.

Once Penny was dressed, Deanna pressed a bag of coins into her hand. "This should be enough for you to get your school supplies this year. If you need more, write to your Aunt Margaret, she'll get word to me. I've also made you an account at Gringotts, so whenever I can, I'll put a little bit aside in there for you."

"Mother, you're making it sound like I'm never going to be coming back here."

"Penny...I really don't think that you _should_ come back. I love you, you're my daughter, but it just isn't safe for you here anymore. Just know...your father has a reason for what he's done to you. He doesn't want to do it, but he has to. You-know-who is rising in power again, and your father is most likely going to pledge our family's allegiance to him when that happens."

"But Mum, I thought that You-know-who died-"

"Penny, we don't have time for any of this. I promise that someday I'll explain everything to you, but right now we have to get you out of here before your father wakes up."

Once Penny's trunk was packed with everything that she needed, she followed her mother down the stairs, her trunk floating along behind them. 

Sure enough, the twins, plus Ron and Harry, were waiting outside in a blue Ford Anglia. The twins got out to put Penny's trunk in the boot of the car, and Deanna placed her hands on Penny's shoulders. 

"Penny, just know that we love you, never forget that." She placed a gentle kiss to her daughter's forehead. "Go now, hurry." She looked at Fred and George. "Take care of my daughter."

"We will." George said in a solemn voice before helping Penny to get into the backseat with Ron and Harry. To Penny's surprise, the car took off into the air, it had been enchanted to fly. She turned around, looking at her mother who was watching them from the ground, and she continued to watch her until she disappeared from view, and a tear trailed down the twelve-year-old's cheek. She didn't know when she would see her mother again, or if she ever would.

"Are you okay?" Harry asked her in a quiet voice, and Penny shook her head. "No." She answered, her voice cracking. "I'm not okay." SHe didn't know if things would ever be okay again.


End file.
